The UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team is gearing up for home and home Legends Cup rivalry series meetings against the University of Victoria Vikes as they begin week two of the Canada West regular season action.
 
It all gets started Thursday, November 1^st on the road with the T-Birds visiting the Vikes at Carsa Performance Gym in Victoria with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. The teams will then head back across to the mainland for a matchup two days later on Saturday, November 3^rd with 7:00 p.m. start time.
 
The last time these squads met in early February of this year saw the T-Birds come away with comfortable victorious in both outings by scores of 95-69 and 109-68.

?? MBB | @ubctbirds earn a thrilling 92-87 comeback victory over @HuskieAthletics after a great 3rd quarter!

It's bound to be a memorable Courtside experience for our fans after both the Men's and Women's Basketball Teams came out on top tonight.#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/bZzGDIXBkD

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) October 27, 2018

 

Last Action

 
The T-Birds opened the Canada West regular season last week on home court with their annual Courtside Festival and satisfied the boisterous blue and gold crowd at War Memorial Gym with a 92-84 Friday night win over the Saskatchewan Huskies. The following night it was the visitors who rebounded to hand the 'Birds a 102-93 setback and sit at 1-1 after week one.
 
The Vikes are 1-1 to start the season after splitting a pair of road games in Winnipeg last weekend, suffering a 93-84 loss to the Wesmen on Friday night before Victoria bounced back for a close 75-72 win on Saturday night.
 

By the Numbers

 
4 – The number of T-Birds players that scored in double digits in Friday's 92-87 win over the Huskies. Jadon Cohee (29), Manroop Clair (17), Mason Bourcier (14), Grant Audu (12).
 
24 – The number of points the T-Birds scored off turnovers in Friday night's win as they were rewarded for their tenacious defence.


 

Players to Watch

 
Jadon Cohee (#12, G) – The fourth-year guard and transfer out of Southern Utah University made his presence felt in his opening weekend of Canada West play combining for 62 points in two outings. In scoring the game high in both contests, Cohee enjoys the early CW scoring lead averaging 31 points per game.
 
Grant Shephard (#10, F) The second-year forward narrowly missed earning a double double in Friday's win over Saskatchewan in scoring nine points while collecting a game high 12 rebounds.


 

Coach's Take

 
"Last weekend Saskatchewan played us very tough both games, we had to come from behind in the first one and we buried ourselves in a hole in the second one," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "I think the Huskies are a legitimate contender this year but I also think a slight lack of cohesiveness showed with some of our group not playing many games together as a group. I felt we got a little bit exposed but I think we'll focus on trying to improve each week and as long as you learn from your mistakes growth can occur and that's what we're looking forward to seeing this week.
 
Hanson then sized up what he expects this weekend from the Vikes.
 
"This is the rivalry even back to my playing days is always intense and you add in the Legends Cup on the line as well," added Hanson. "They never play a bad game against us and we never play bad against them so it will be two quality teams going head to head. I'm excited, I also really like the format of playing one game at their place and one at ours so the fans in both places get a chance to see the two schools, I think that's very healthy for the rivalry and hopefully that will translate into some big crowds for both games."